Coordination, rather than pragmatics, shapes colexification when the pressure forefficiency is low.

Alexey Koshevoy, Isabelle Dautriche, Olivier Morin, Kenny Smith

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We investigate the phenomenon of colexification, where a single word form is associated with multiple meanings. Previous research on colexification has primarily focused on empirical studies of different properties of the meanings that determine colexification, such as semantic similarity or meaning frequency. Meanwhile, little attention was paid to the word-forms’ properties, despite being the original approach advocated by Zipf. Our preregistered study examines whether word length influences word choice for colexification using a noveldyadic communication game (N = 64) and a computational model grounded in the Rational Speech Act (RSA) framework.Contrary to initial predictions, participants did not exhibit a strong preference for efficient colexification (namely colexifying multiple concepts using short words, when long alternatives are available). The results align more closely with a simpler coordination model, where dyads align on a functioning lexical convention with relatively little influence from the efficiency of that convention. Our study highlights the possibility that colexification choices are strongly determined by the pressure for coordination, with weaker influences from semantic similarity or meaning frequency. This is most likely explained by weak pressure for efficiency in our experimental design.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 46th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society
EditorsLarissa K Samuelson, Stefan Frank, Mariya Toneva, Allyson Mackey, Eliot Hazeltine
PublishereScholarship University of California
Pages1748-1754
Number of pages7
Volume46
Publication statusPublished - 2024
EventThe 46th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society - Postillion Hotel & Conference Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Duration: 24 Jul 202427 Jul 2024
https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci-2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society
Publisher eScholarship University of California
Volume46
ISSN (Electronic)1069-7977

Conference

ConferenceThe 46th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Abbreviated titleCOGSCI 2024
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityRotterdam
Period24/07/2427/07/24
Internet address

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • colexification
  • Rational Speech Acts framework
  • dyadic communication game
  • computational modelling

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